Commercial buildings typically include large open floor areas which are subdivided into a selected number of workstations or work areas, such as by space-dividing furniture components, for example portable wall panels. Each workstation is outfitted with additional furniture components such as storage cabinets, worksurfaces or the like which are either supported on the wall panels or are freestanding. Additionally, freestanding furniture components such as tables and desks may also be used to subdivide office areas into open workstation areas. Such furniture is commonly referred to as “systems” furniture, and is used extensively due to its flexibility in defining a wide variety of office configurations depending upon the specific requirements of an office area. Since these requirements can change over time, such systems furniture also can be reconfigured, for example, to change the arrangement, number and/or size of the workstations.
Such workstations typically include equipment and components which may require both electric power and communications connections. For example, workstations may include computers having modem connections, telephones, facsimile machines or the like, all of which require connection to separate power and communications circuits. The number and type of components may vary over time, or from one workstation to another.
With open office arrangements which are defined by freestanding furniture components placed in open areas to define various workstations for individual or team usage, providing power and communication cabling to these types of freestanding arrangements can be difficult and cumbersome. For example, power and communication cabling can be provided to the workstation by running same over the floor, when then requires for safety reasons that the cabling be secured from movement and covered. Alternatively, cabling can be provided to this type of workstation through a fixed wall or through a raceway integrated into a portable wall panel. However, this type of arrangement can limit reconfiguration of the workstation, and can result in unsightly cabling in and around the workstation.
Accordingly, the present invention provides a workstation including a power and communication arrangement which enables the formation of one or multiple freestanding-type workstations within an open office space, which workstation or workstations include power and communication capabilities. More specifically, one or more worksurfaces are provided, and a console is mounted adjacent the rear edge of the respective worksurface. The console houses one or more electrical power receptacles and communication receptacles. The cabling associated with components supported on the worksurface which require connection to power and communication circuits is routed over the rear edge of the worksurface and into the console for connection to the appropriate power or communication receptacle provided therein. The console includes front and rear covers which serve to screen the contents therein and thus provide an uncluttered and neat appearance. Further, the covers are movable to provide easy access to the receptacles and cabling within the console.
Depending upon the desired workstation configuration, the console can also be supported on an upright pedestal which is mounted on a support surface, such as a floor. Accordingly, the console and pedestal can serve as a stand-alone power and/or communication distribution unit by routing cabling into the pedestal for connection to the appropriate components within the console, or may be utilized in conjunction with one or more worksurfaces to define a work area and provide same with power and communication capabilities.
The workstation arrangement according to the invention additionally includes an elongate raceway assembly which defines a conduit for distributing power and communication cables to individual-workstations. Separate lengths of raceway segments are connectable to one another to create the desired raceway length depending upon the configuration of the work area, and terminal ends-of a pair of raceway segments are respectively connectable to opposite sides of the console for communication with the interior thereof, and in one embodiment, serve to interconnect individual workstations to one another. In this regard, the raceway segments according to the invention are horizontally flexible and thus permit repositioning of the workstations relative to one another without the need for reconfiguration of the power and communication cabling.
A further aspect of the invention relates to a raceway assembly for handling power and/or communication cabling, the raceway assembly including an elongate and flexible spine or diaphragm which supports thereon pairs of opposed and openable side covers which together define a raceway link. A plurality of these links are supported along the spine in side-by-side relation to define an elongate raceway run. The spine serves to separate the interior of the raceway run into separate channels which may be used for routing power and/or communication cabling.
The terminal end of a raceway run is mountable to an infeed raceway assembly which carries power and communication cables from a ceiling, portable wall panel, fixed wall or other area. The infeed raceway assembly typically includes a raceway segment which is at least vertically flexible to allow multiple configurations of the entire raceway arrangement as dictated by the power and communication cabling routing within the building.
The workstation arrangement according to the invention provides significant flexibility in the configuration of a work area, and specifically to an open-space work area. Further, power and communication circuits can be readily and safely routed to individual freestanding workstations from infeed areas without the need for reconfiguration of portable wall panels and/or the power and communication cabling carried therein.
Other objects and purposes of the invention, and variations thereof, will be apparent upon reading the following specification and inspecting the accompanying drawings.
Certain terminology will be used in the following description for convenience in reference only, and will not be limiting. For example, the words “upwardly”, “downwardly”, “rightwardly” and “leftwardly” will refer to directions in the drawings to which reference is made. The words “inwardly” and “outwardly” will refer to directions toward and away from, respectively, the geometric center of the arrangement and designated parts thereof. The phrases “front edge” and “rear edge” in reference to the worksurface will respectively refer to the edge of the worksurface which is normally positioned closest to the user and the opposite edge which is normally positioned remotely from a user. Further, the terms “front” and “rear” when used in reference to the console will respectively refer to the side of the console which faces outwardly and away from the worksurface and the side which faces inwardly and toward the worksurface when the console is mounted thereon. Said terminology will include the words specifically mentioned, derivatives thereof, and words of similar import.